Fluorescent lighting fixture for passenger motor coaches



.0ct. 19, 1943. p ZAMPOL 2,332,039

FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FIXTURE FOR PASSENGER MOTOR COACHES Filed May 12, 1941 a I f lnnentor Patented Oct. 19, 1943 FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FDKTURE FOR PASSENGER MOTOR COACHES Peter Zampol, Pontiac, Mich, assignor to Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company, Pontiac, Mich, a corporation of Maine Application May 12, 1941, Serial No. 393,043

2 Claims.

My invention relates to interior lighting for passenger motor coaches.

In lighting systems used at the present time to illuminate the interior of passenger motor coaches a common defect is the concentration of light at a very small source. Such lighting systems produce glare but do not furnish adequate illumination to all parts of the coach interior. Furthermore, lighting fixtures used in present day motor coaches may not be readily disposed overhead because of interference with the headroom. I aim to overcome all these disadvantages in my improved lighting fixture.

An object of my invention is to provide an interior lighting fixture for passenger motor coaches which gives even, diffused, glare-free illumination; My light fixture may be installed between the head lining and the roof panel of the coach and takes up a minimum of space.

More specifically, the principal object of my invention is to provide fluorescent lighting for a motor coach in a fixture which does not interfere with the headroom in the coach. The lighting fixture of my invention is provided with a mounting means which is resilient and therefore guards the fixture against shocks transmitted to the coach body and at the same time permits ready removal and replacement of the fixture assembly. A further feature of this system is the permissible reduction in the number of light fixture units in comparison to that normally used in passenger coaches.

Fig. l of the drawing is a plan view of a standand passenger motor coach, with parts broken away and in section. The lighting fixtures are shown in this View in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in section substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View in section substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view looking up at the fixture with the lens removed- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the lens.

Referring now to the drawing, 2 designates a standard passenger motor coach. Spaced lighting fixtures 4 are installed in the coach between the interior trim panel or head lining 5 and roof panel 8. Each fixture has a reflector it having a substantially spherical curvature, as indicated particularly in Fig. 3. The reflector is preferably a sheet metal stamping, and has a pair of diametrically opposed upwardly depressed offsets affording a substantially rectangular recess 12 in its spherical surface; the long axis of the recess is shown parallel to the long axis of the motor coach. The length of this recess is approximately equal to the diameter of the reflector.

Suitably secured within recess l2 are angular mounting members I4 which carry tube supports 16. Members M with their supports I6 hold fluorescent lighting tubes H3 in position within the rectangular recess I2. By disposing tubes l8 in such a manner that they are substantially parallel to the long axis of the coach, advantage is taken of the substantially straight line of a section of the roof panel in this direction to enable placing the fixture close to the roof panel without interference therewith.

A lens or protective covering 20 may be placed over the fluorescent tubes l8. Cover member 28 may be of glass or a suitable molded plastic, or of any other suitable light transmitting material. It may be transparent or translucent. If I use a transparent material I prefer to have a shaded or translucent portion 22 at those regions which are to be disposed directly below the tube. ends. The purpose of this translucent portion is to conceal the mountingmeans from view.

Cover member 20 is provided with a flange or rim 24 which cooperates with another flange or rim 26 on reflector Hi. When the fixture is in its assembled condition, flanges 24 and 28 are held together by a mounting member such as glazing strip 28. The assembled fixture and mounting means are disposed in an opening I in head lining 6. As seen in the drawing, the other open end of the H-shaped member engages the head lining 6 at the edge of this opening. This resilient mounting means serves a twofold purpose: it provides a shock absorbin supporting means, and it furnishes a mounting means which may be readily assembled and disassembled without the use of screws or other securing means. Strip 28 may be a substantially H-shaped member of a resilient material such as rubber. Any suit-. able mounting member of substantiall the form shown will suffice but I prefer to use the rubber mounting disclosed and claimed in Patent 2,189,138 to Ferdinand R. Eichner, patented February 6, 1940.

I claim:

1. In a passenger coach having a roof and a head lining disposed therebeneath in closely spaced relation theretoand provided with a circular opening for the reception of a lighting fixture, a lighting fixture comprising a substantially circular reflector having a generally concave body portion and a marginal flange substantially complementary to said opening, a diametrically transverse zone of said body portion being terminally about said opening so as to position said reflector receptacle and said tubular lamps in the space between said roof and head lining.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said light-transmitting cover member is provided with a pair of masking portions alined with the ends of the receptacle portion of said reflector to conceal the supporting means for the tubular lamps.

PETER ZAMPOL. 

